The Minister of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, has denounced this Monday that the extraordinary dividends distributed by the companies of the Ibex 35 end up being funded by the working class through "millions of hours of unpaid work."
These statements are framed within his intervention at the "The Wealth Cap Project" day, held in the Congress of Deputies, a forum focused on the analysis of wealth redistribution and how a very significant part of the wealth is concentrated in a very small number of people.
Bustinduy has detailed that in Spain about 33 people accumulate fortunes exceeding 1 billion euros each, which adds up to around 197.5 billion euros, an amount equivalent to the wealth owned by approximately 40% of the population. In addition, he recalled that in 2025 a record payout of dividends close to 29 billion euros was recorded, an unprecedented figure.
In light of this scenario, the minister has criticized the "obscene" concentration of wealth in so few hands, warning that this phenomenon lies behind the "siege" of democracies and the multilateral international law system as it was known until now.
In this line, he stated that "the rise of authoritarian or reactionary anti-democratic forces is only the political expression of a project that concerns everything from the cutting-edge productive sectors and technological development to the financialization that implies the dismantling of social protection systems and public services as we knew them."
Subsequently, the head of Consumption emphasized that the working classes assume, in his view, a double or even triple penalty regarding the distribution of dividends, because they are "millions of hours of unpaid work" that turn into profits for shareholders and that, in addition, end up being taxed "less than the salary of a high school teacher."
ABOUT THE PUBLIC DEBATE
In his intervention, Bustinduy lamented that these levels of wealth concentration remain outside public discussions on fiscal sustainability. He reproached that, when talking about the viability of public spending or the pension system, it is never pointed out that "there are almost 200 billion euros in the hands of three people" in Spain.
The person responsible for Social Rights has also focused on the historical benefits of the financial sector, recalling that last year the profits of the banking business reached a maximum of 34 billion euros.
In this context, the minister has once again supported the legislative proposal registered by Sumar to implement a tax of 3% on assets over 50 million euros. As he has argued, these resources "could produce an extraordinary collection exceeding 4 billion euros annually" intended for a specific fund to combat child poverty, which would in turn serve to finance the universal child benefit.
Bustinduy has added that he is "finalizing" the incorporation of that universal benefit into the 2027 Budget project, accounts that continue in the negotiation phase within the Government before their submission to Congress.